To:
Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov]
From: The Washington Post
Sent: Wed 6/21/2017 4:04:14 PM
Subject: [SPAM] Checkpoint: Trump's pick for the No. 2 Pentagon job faces tough questions during
confirmation hearing
Trump's pick for the No. 2 Pentagon
job faces tough questions during
confirmation hearing
hoi uco -nouch, Ms Cmim Cm ' Rm: John McCain chided Patrick Shanahan at one point. By Dan Lamothe Read more
In tnird shoot-down in a montn. .. jet destroys
another Iranian drone over Syria
It comes two days afl
shot down a Syrian fighter
aircraft.
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff Read more
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A Russian jet came within feet of a U.S.
p - ,, m n nssance plane, the Pentagon says
1 b Russian pilot approached at a high speed and had poor
control of the aircraft, a U.S. official said.
By Dan Lamothe Read more
17 sa;h i 'mH vd hi t|( , ? i h/ raid. Here arm their
stories.
The dead included a 19-year-old firefighter and a 19-year Navy
veteran who had been preparing to retire.
By Avi Selk Re
re
hi
v m o m ; t((f ; z dually always
human error involved
Multiple investigations of the catastrophe aboard the USS
Fitzgerald are underway.
By Dan Lamothe ; ' <
I
rav 202
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Your daily guide to the energy and
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To:
Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov]
From: The Washington Post
Sent: Wed 6/21/2017 4:00:30 PM
Subject: [SPAM] Federal Insider: New VA law sets stage for government-wide cut in civil-service
protections
New VA law sets stage for government-wide cut in civil-service protections
By Joe Davidson
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin speaks to reporters at a breakfast meeting Tuesday in Washington. (Michael Bonfigli/Christian Science Monitor)
Veterans have been on the vanguard protecting the nation -- waging war and securing the peace.
Now those who assist them are on th ' efront, serving as guinea pigs testing major changes in civil-service procedures that protect federal employees and taxpayers.
Coupled with earlier revisio
Tense Department layoff process, the
new legislation portends significant and across-the-board civil service
changes for the federal workforce.
The latest transformations are in the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which President Trump will sign soon, perhaps this week.
While it weakens civil-service protections for all
affers, the legislation
reserves its sharpest blows for senior executives. They would no longer be
able to appeal adverse actions such as firings, suspensions and demotions
to the independent Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), a process
available to most other feds.
Instead, they would be subjected to a disciplinary process that concentrates
ipow
ter the VA secretary. Under the legislation, the secretary, currently
David Shulkin, would be responsible for accusing workers of misconduct or
poor performance, imposing punishment on them and ruling on appeals of
Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906
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She sentences he determines. ADvtFnisEMENT
Shulkin likes that arrangement.
Noting that he will leave much of the process for his nearly 350,000
employees to the regular chain of command, Shulkin said, "I need, as
secretary, if I'm going m change this organization, the ability to remove
employees that clearly no longer
view should have the privilege of
serving our veterans."
Rather thi
king VA, which already has almost 50,000 vacancies, less
attractive to workers because of cuts to workpla
Sections, Shulkin thinks
the legislation will "dramatically improve morale" and enhance recruitment,
because "there is nothing more demoralizing" than working alongside
deadwood, he said.
"I do not see this as a tool that will lead to mass firing," he told reporters at a Tuesday breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, but one "for a small number of people."
Shulkin indicated he wants "to run this organization the way that the private sector runs organizations."
Taken at face value, this reflects a serious misunderstanding of the role civilservice protections play in government. Private-sector workers generally can lv A- d on a boss's whim. Civil-service procedures are designed to protect public employees and the public against just that. The safeguards ensure that political appointees will not act against staffers -- and ultimately taxpayers -- who do not toe the party line.
"These provisions stri
the heart of the career-run merit based civil
service system by empowering dw // - cretar, r J p- Mitical appointees to
conduct wholesale political firings of VA senior executives" and could help
"trigger a return to the spoils system of patronage," Senior Executives
Association President Bill Valdez warned in a letter to Congress.
'Shulkin will not turn VA into a political-hack redoubt, but the fear is ''understandable. The measure does undermine protections for the top level of civil servants, who could be most affected by political pressure.
Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906
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titan
Like with the senior executives, the time for other staffers to respond to adverse actions would be cut to seven business days -- not much when management can take all the time it needs to build its case. Managers also would have to back their case with "substantial evidence," a lower standard than a "preponderance of evidence."
Regular employees, unlike those in the Senior Executive Service, could
appeal m MSPB administrative judge then to the full MSPB. All employees,
including senior executives, could appeal to the co
stem, but that is time
consuming and too expensive for many.
"This law is not about dealing with bad actors," said J. David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents many VA staffers. "The VA already has the tools to fire those whom the evidence proves deserve to be fired. Their ultimate goal is to destroy the foundation upon which our non-political, merit-based civil service was created and turn the entire government into an at-will workforce."
When laying off civilian employees, the Pentagon now considers
performar
;ad of other factors such as seniority.
Jeff Neal, a former chief human-capital officer in the Defense Logistics Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, described the Pentagon change in his ChiefHRO.com blog as "the biggest shakeup in RIF [reduction in force] in decades."
Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906
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If that and VA's new disciplinary procedures prove effective, he added by phone, "I would be very surprised if there is not an effort to expand them to the entire government."
Max Stier, president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service, which focuses on Vderal employmen < rd management issues, cautioned that the VA approach "won't deal with the real issues."
Increased training of managers across government, which the bill does provide for VA, is key, Stier said.
Simply firing feds faster, he added, is not the answer.
Read more:
Law makes VA treat some family caregivers better than others
Will VA chief be voice of reason on climate change and medical --m-- arijuana in Trump administration? Your d.a.i.ly gu.id, e ,to the energy and.
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